January 13, 2012

The 2012 Free From Awards & Yours Truly!
My most exciting news is that I’m going to be a judge at the 5th Annual Free From Food Awards in London! I seriously can’t wait! Likewise, I can’t wait to tell you all about it and the wonderful products that will be competing (but of course, the later will come only after the shortlist is released in March). The winners will be announced in April and if you’re wondering what on earth I’m on about because you’ve never heard of the Free From Food Awards: They’re only the best thing since sliced Gluten Free Bread! They are the UK’s only awards for Free From excellence and obviously are a much needed force in the industry for food allergy/intolerant eaters everywhere because they set the bar and can only help the Free From world get better and bigger and tastier - which is what we all want after all, isn’t it?! The organisers conduct a blind taste test for the judges which are made up of food professionals, dietitians, nutritionists, people with food allergies, bloggers (like me!) and some ‘normals’ to benchmark against mainstream equivalents. They announce a shortlist in March and then in April award the winners in numerous categories with ‘Winner’, ‘Highly Commended’ and ‘Commended’ crowns plus an overall competition winner for the best Free From Food for the year. There are loads of sponsors (The 2012 Awards are being sponsored by Asda, Delamere Dairy, Fria Gluten Free, Genius Gluten Free, Genon Laboratories , Hale & Hearty, Juvela, Livwell, Mrs Crimbles, Produced in Italy, Pure Dairy Free, Swedish Glacé, Tesco). And they judge a whole range of foods which are one or all of the following: Wheat Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Yeast Free, Soya Free, Sugar Free...Basically they’re only awesome so watch this space! For more on the awards, the sponsors, organisers, how to enter your free from food (which is closed for 2012) and all that, see: www.freefromawards.co.uk

Say Good-bye to Cafe Fresh in Powerscourt

In other news, Cafe Fresh which was located upstairs in the Powerscourt Townhouse is closed - My friend S. confirmed to me only this morning that the doors are closed and their Facebook page has been removed! This, so close on the heels of Juice’sabrupt closure makes for a dark time for vegetarians, vegans and free from eaters in Dublin, non? Supposedly there is hope of just a relocation with Fresh, but with no notices up it seems doubtful. All this definitely makes me hope that my next piece of gossip will be a successful reality!

The On-Going Vegan Restaurant Rumours
In other news I’ve been doing some digging with relation to the rumored Vegan Dublin City Centre restaurant meant to be coming our way but I have nothing solid yet. I THINK, the proprietor might be Síl from Sseduced?? Her website, www.sseduced.com has a hopeful little line on the restaurant page saying ‘Dublin’s 1st ever Raw Restaurant is now quickly becoming a reality right at the Heart of the City in early 2012!’
It seems that Sseduced has, in the past rented out The Joy of Chá located on Essex Street in Temple Bar two nights a week to serve vegan raw living food but this is no longer happening. I’m eagerly awaiting confirmation of a permanent location/opening because if it’s all true then we can look forward to: Wheat Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Soya Free, Yeast Free, Egg Free, Organic, Vegan, Vegetarian and of course, RAW food in a sit down restaurant in the city centre and seriously, how great would that be?!